Government rolls in a plan to unclog Rao Tula Ram flyover

Get ready for a swift drive from Gurgaon to Indira Gandhi International Airport. The perpetual traffic on Rao Tula Ram (RTR) carriageway, connecting IIT Gate and NH-8 (towards airport), is set to clear out in the near future.

The Delhi government has thrown its weight behind one of the proposals by RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Services) that calls for constructing another carriageway, parallel to RTR flyover, in order to decongest the traffic on the Outer Ring Road.

RITES made a detailed presentation to Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Planning and Engineering Centre (UTTIPEC) on July 5 and addresses issues like traffic circulation, transport infrastructure, parking and pedestrian facilities.

The study mainly focused on heavy traffic jams on the RTR Marg intersection and observed that the worst-affected areas were Vasant Vihar, Vasant Enclave and Basant Gaon.

The 9 metre-wide RTR Marg flyover was conceived for one-way traffic movement but has since been utilised for two-way traffic, leading to heavy congestion on both sides.

'One of their suggestions is to build another flyover, which caters to traffic on both the sides. We feel it is the most important (suggestion) as it will take care of all the traffic-related issues,' public works department minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said.

The other key suggestions for decongesting the stretch require alterations in the traffic plan of the entire corridor, only allowing traffic from either of the two sides.

The study suggested either clockwise movement from Benito Juarez Marg or anti-clockwise movement from RTR Marg.

'This proposal to allow traffic from only one side on the RTR carriageway has its biggest shortcoming in the fact that the other side will miss out on RTR, which provides the shortest link to Ring Road and Outer Ring Road,' a senior government officer said.

Chauhan said: 'The final call on which of these plans is best suited for the carriageway will be discussed at the UTTIPEC meet. If they approve the plan (to construct a new carriageway), we will start making project cost estimates and other related research.'

The date for next UTTIPEC meet has not been announced. Senior government officers cited RITES's presentation, which mentioned the peakhour traffic and overall traffic volume on the stretch to justify a new carriageway, as the 'best solution' for the traffic woes.

The report itself makes a case for a multiple lane flyover on the RTR Marg.

'Based on the conservative estimates of traffic growth, an eight-lane flyover would be required by 2031 to cater to the straight (both direction) traffic,' the report stated, adding: 'So we need to look at the solutions that reduce/ divert the traffic on the RTR Marg/ Outer Ring Road.'

The minister is hopeful of an early solution.

'We are looking for holistic traffic improvement on the stretch and since it (RTR) is an important project, hopefully the UTTIPEC will soon take a decision on the suggestions made by the study' he said.